


One Year Later (I Fell In Love Instantly)

by Krasimer



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Canon Compliant, Carlos is a Dork, Cecil Is Not Described, Episode: e025 One Year Later, M/M, Near Death Experiences, POV Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-23
Updated: 2017-08-23
Packaged: 2018-12-18 23:56:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11885565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krasimer/pseuds/Krasimer
Summary: He, Carlos Mendez, had survived Night Vale for a year, only to die on the anniversary of his arrival.Cecil's voice was in his ears now, and for a moment he tried to look up and meet the strange man's eyes. The Apache tracker shook his own head, gave him a shrug while muttering something in Russian, then wrapped thick arms around him and pulled him off the ground. Carlos's feet were dangling, his chest felt like it had been ripped open even further, and the Apache tracker just kept muttering.





	One Year Later (I Fell In Love Instantly)

This was it.

He was going to die in some tiny little town that shouldn't even exist, underneath the bowling alley.

From above him, he could hear Cecil's voice, reduced almost to a whisper by how far it had to travel down to reach his ears. 

With a panicked breath, shaky and painful, Carlos moved his arm, trying in vain to press his hand against the holes in his torso. When that hurt too much, he let his hand drop again, curling his fingers uselessly against the ground.

For one whole year, he had lived in the town that didn't make sense. The town that would never make sense.

He, Carlos Mendez, had survived Night Vale for a year, only to die on the anniversary of his arrival.

Cecil's voice was in his ears now, and for a moment he tried to look up and meet the strange man's eyes. The Apache tracker shook his own head, gave him a shrug while muttering something in Russian, then wrapped thick arms around him and pulled him off the ground. Carlos's feet were dangling, his chest felt like it had been ripped open even further, and the Apache tracker just kept muttering.

The entire time, Cecil's reporting was breaking down even more, tears interrupting his broadcast, coupled with a petulant insistence that Carlos couldn't be dead.

"-IN MY HANDS!"

Apparently, the tracker had thought to bring a radio down with him, tied to his belt loop.

Carlos can hear Cecil's voice cracking and it nearly breaks his heart when he actually understands the words the man is saying. 

That's when he blacks out.

 

Later, the Tracker is dead, he's alive, and Cecil is proclaiming his joy at this news over the radio.

Carlos is sitting in the lounge of the bowling alley and staring at his phone which is amazingly still intact. 

With very little hesitation and a quick glance at the hooded figure in the corner, he selects Cecil's name in his list of contacts.

He thinks of the lights above the Arby's, remembers the hopeful look on Cecil's face whenever they talk, and above all else, he remembers what it was the other man said when he'd moved into town.

With a soft smile, Carlos hits send.

"And I fell in love, Instantly." he whispered.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, guess who just remembered the other Night Vale fic they wrote. 
> 
> Yep, it's me. 
> 
> Hope you guys like this one! I actually wrote it not too long after the episode came out.


End file.
